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AG Holder Urges New Hate Crimes Law

June 18, 2009

Citing recent killings in Arkansas, Kansas and the nation's capital, Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday said new hate crimes law were needed to stop what he called "violence masquerading as political activism."

The attorney general's call for Congress to act came as a civil rights coalition said there has been a surge in white supremacist activity since the election of the first African-American president and the economic downturn.

A former police officer—now an elected official with the Missouri House of Representatives—wants to force any city with a population of 5,000 or fewer inhabitants, with an area of less than two square miles, to disband its police department and contract for law enforcement services with either the county police department or a larger neighboring city.